Danger Ahead: The Risks You Really Face on Life’s Highway

224 Pages·1997·70.27 MB·English

by  Larry Laudan

Danger Ahead
The RiskYou
Reolly Face
on Life's Highway
LARRY LAUDAN
A
v-7
JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.
. . . . .
NewYork Chichester Weinheim Brisbane Singapore Toronto
This text is printed on acid free paper.
Copyright @ 1997 by Larry laudan
Published by JohnWiley & Sons, Inc.
All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada.
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work beyond that permitted by
Section 107 or 108 of the 1975 United States Copyright Act without the permission
of the copyright owner is unlawful. Requests for permission or further information
should be addressed to the Permissions Departrnent, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in
regard to the subject matter covered. lt is sold with the understanding that the
publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. Iflegal, accounting,
medical, psychological, or any other expert assistance is required, the services
of a competent professional person should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Laudan, Larry
Danger ahead : the risks you rcaIIy lace on lifet highway / Larcy
Laudan.
P. crn.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-471-13aa0-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
'l . Risk perception-United States-Statistics. 2. Risk
assessment-Unijsd $tagss-Statistics. I. Title.
HM256.L382 1997
302'.12---dc21 97-9920
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
r09876s4321
To Marilyn and Ken,
risft-runners.
fellow

Contents
l: Laws forAvoiding Risk-Lock, I
2: Jobs and Money:
WhatYou Didn't Learn in Economics 101,43
Going inHock?,44
Building the Nest Egg,?,44
Ending Up in the Poor House, 45
Earning Your Way, 47
Thinking of Starting a Business?, 52
Paying Uncle Sam and His Fifty Lesser Relatives, 53
Lifestyles, 54
Other Games of Chance. 55
3: Sex,through the Eyes of a RiskTheorist,5T
Sex: Early and "Unhealthy," 58
Contraception, 59
The Oldest Profession, 6l
Curious Facts about Sex, 62
AIDS Risk: Cutting through the Hysteria,66
4: Eat, Drink, and BeWary,73
When Food Can Kill,77
Cancer and Diet. 79
vlu ...CoNTENTS...
Fighting Fat,82
Think You Have Food Allergies?, 85
WhatYou Don'tWant to Know
AboutWhat's inYour Food, 87
Good to the Last Drop?, 89
"Pure'Water?r 90
The Demon Drink, 9/
5: Beating the Odds on Disease, 95
Some Familiar Killers, 97
Some Nonfatal Nuisances, 100
Seeing the Doctor, 105
YourWorst Nightmare, 06
1
States of Mind, 109
When the Cure IsWorseThan the Disease, ,| / I
A Medical Grab Bag, 112
6: The House finom Hell-ProbablyYours, 115
The Kitchen, 116
I/6
The Living Room,
l/7
TheBath,
The Bedroom, I18
The Kids' Room, / /9
The Garage and Basement, 120
Anywhere, /2/
The Backyard, 122
Other Risks around the House. 123
...CoNTENTS...
7: The Maiming Fields,or No Pain No Gain,127
Sports, /29
Exercise, 133
8: Love, Marriage, and the Consequences, 135
In"g and Untying the Knot, I37
Perpetuating the Species, 141
9: A Potpourri of Risks, 145
GettingThere by Car, 45
1
GettingThere Otherwise, I 5 I
Mother Nature, I53
Environment Trade-offs, I 58
Crime and Guns, 162
A Little Learning Is a DangerousThing, I65
Lighting Up, 167
Too Miscellaneous to Classify, /69
Sources, /73
Index, 181

Danger
Ahead